Welcome to the finale of the Make It! Challenge series! Sheena from Virginia challenged me to make unlikely friends amigurumi, meaning animals that don’t normally hang out together. We talked about a few different examples before we decided that a penguin and a parrot would make an unlikely pair. Where would they meet? A penguin in the Amazon would be a sweaty mess and a parrot in Antarctica would shiver his feathers off. Maybe they should meet on a mild September day in Colorado, like today.

Pondering the theme of unlikely friends as I was brainstorming the construction for this Make It! Challenge led me to origami. The art of using intricate folds to turn a two-dimensional surface into a three-dimensional object seems about as far away from crochet as you can get.

Usually an amigurumi is created by working in the round (crocheting in a spiral to create spheres). I wondered what would happen if I started instead with a flat surface, like a granny square. I decided to start at the corner of a square to create a beak, and then working out from there, I could create a striped pattern that would mimic the bird’s coloration. The tough part was determining how to fold this one square so that it took a form that would stay together and do it in a way that would be easy for others to duplicate. Despite multiple trials, it never quite worked. In the end, sewing a second smaller square on the front and folding the head and wings forward and the tail back was the easiest answer. All in all, I am really pleased with this origami-inspired amigurumi. I hope you enjoy it too. 

Unlikely Friends Parrot and Penguin Amigurumi Patterns

To complete this pattern, it will help to know how to begin with a magic loop, double crochet, change colors at the end of a row, and assemble a toy using place markers.

Materials

For parrot: Medium-weight yarn in yellow, white, red, green, blue, and black
For penguin: Medium-weight yarn in orange, black, white, and gray
G-6 (4.00 mm) crochet hook
Waste yarn for PM
Open stitch markers or large pins for assembly
Yarn needle or tapestry needle
Polyester stuffing

Instructions

Special Instructions:

There are a few ways to change color at the end (or beginning) of a row. For this pattern, I recommend changing color at the beginning of the row by pulling up a loop with the new color and chaining 3 as instructed.

PM: place marker in the next stitch. This will aid in assembly of your bird later in the instructions.

Parrot

Back, Wings, and Tail in One Piece (Large Square)

Note: The 3-ch at the beginning of each row counts as a dc.

With yellow, begin with a magic loop.

Row 1: Ch 3, dc, tr, 2 dc into the magic loop. Pull tight to close. Break yarn. Turn. (5)

Row 2: With white, ch 3, dc in next dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in tr, dc in next 2 dc. Break yarn. Turn. (9)

Row 3: With red, ch 3, dc in next 3 dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in tr, dc in next 4 dc. Turn. (13)

Row 4: Ch 3, dc in next 5 dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in tr, dc in next 6 dc. Turn. (17)

Row 5: Ch 3, dc in next 7 dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in tr, dc in next 8 dc. Break yarn. Turn. (21)

Row 6: With yellow, ch 3, dc in next 3 dc, PM, dc in next 6 dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in tr, dc in next 6 dc, PM, dc in next 4 dc. Break yarn. Turn. (25)

Row 7: With green, ch 3, dc in next 11 dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in tr, dc in next 12 dc. Break yarn. Turn. (29)

Row 8: With blue, ch 3, dc in next 13 dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in tr, dc in next 14 dc. Turn. (33)

Row 9: Ch 3, dc in next 15 dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in tr, dc in next 16 dc. Break yarn. Turn. (37)

Row 10: With red, ch 3, dc in next 11 dc, PM, dc in the next 6 dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in tr, dc in next6 dc, PM, dc in next 12 dc. FO and weave in ends. (41)

You might use this opportunity to close any spaces between stitches (particularly between 3-chs and the next stitches) by sewing them together as you weave in your ends.

Belly (Small Square)

Note: The 3-ch at the beginning of each row counts as a dc.

With red, create a magic loop.

Rnd 1: Ch 3, into the magic loop: 2 dc, tr, * 3 dc, tr, rep from * 2 more times. Pull magic loop closed. Join with slst to the top of the 3-ch. (16)

Rnd 2: Ch 3, dc in next 2 dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in next tr, * dc in next 3 dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in next tr, rep from * 2 more times. Join with slst to the top of the 3-ch. (32)

Rnd 3: Ch 3, dc in next 4 dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in next tr, * dc in next 7 dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in next tr, rep from * 2 more times. Dc in the next 2 dc. Join with slst to the top of the 3-ch. (48)

FO, leaving a long tail (at least 36 inches long) for sewing. Weave in other end.

Feet

Hold the Body (small square) with the long tail at the bottom and RS facing up. Join black in the second dc after the tr in the right corner (see photo below). * Ch 4, working back down the chain: slst, sc, hdc. Slst in next dc **, rep from * to ** 2 more times. FO. Sk 1 dc and join black again in next dc. Rep from * to ** 3 times. FO. Weave in ends.

Assembly

For these instructions, the RS is whichever side you like best. (In other words, WS is the side you want to show the least of.)

Lay the large square (head, back, wings) with WS facing up, so that the beak is pointing away from you. Lay the small square (body) with RS facing up on top of the large square. Line up the corners of the small square with the PMs on the large square. The feet should be closest to you. 

Thread open stitch marker through the stitch marked by the PM and the tr at the corner of the small square. Repeat for the other three corners to hold the small square in place.

Using the long tail on the small square, sew the small square to the large square.

Once you’ve gotten about 3/4 of the way around, stuff firmly with polyester stuffing.

Fold the beak down and, using the tail of yarn, tack this down to the top of the small square (the bird’s chest).

Fold each wing in and tack each down as well.

Eyes

Make the eyes for your bird using the Simple Eyes with Felt and French Knots tutorial in the Squirrel Picnic Resource Center.

Penguin

Note: For additional help, refer to photos in parrot section.

Back, Wings, and Tail in One Piece (Large Square)

Note: The 3-ch at the beginning of each row counts as a dc.

With orange, begin with a magic loop.

Row 1: Ch 3, dc, tr, 2 dc into the magic loop. Pull tight to close. Break yarn. Turn. (5)

Row 2: With black, ch 3, dc in next dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in tr, dc in next 2 dc. Turn. (9)

Row 3: Ch 3, dc in next 3 dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in tr, dc in next 4 dc. Break yarn. Turn. (13)

Row 4: With orange, ch 3, dc in next 5 dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in tr, dc in next 6 dc. Break yarn. Turn. (17)

Row 5: With white, ch 3, dc in next 7 dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in tr, dc in next 8 dc. Break yarn. Turn. (21)

Row 6: With gray, ch 3, dc in next 3 dc, PM, dc in next 6 dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in tr, dc in next 6 dc, PM, dc in next 4 dc. Break yarn. Turn. (25)

Row 7: With black, ch 3, dc in next 11 dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in tr, dc in next 12 dc. Turn. (29)

Row 8: Ch 3, dc in next 13 dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in tr, dc in next 14 dc. Turn. (33)

Row 9: Ch 3, dc in next 15 dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in tr, dc in next 16 dc. Break yarn. Turn. (37)

Row 10: With gray, ch 3, dc in next 11 dc, PM, dc in the next 6 dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in tr, dc in next 6 dc, PM, dc in next 12 dc. FO and weave in ends. (41)

You might use this opportunity to close any spaces between stitches (particularly between 3-chs and the next stitches) by sewing them together as you weave in your ends.

Belly (Small Square)

Note: The 3-ch at the beginning of each row counts as a dc.

With white, create a magic loop.

Rnd 1: Ch 3, into the magic loop: 2 dc, tr, * 3 dc, tr, rep from * 2 more times. Pull magic loop closed. Join with slst to the top of the 3-ch. (16)

Rnd 2: Ch 3, dc in next 2 dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in next tr, * dc in next 3 dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in next tr, rep from * 2 more times. Join with slst to the top of the 3-ch. (32)

Rnd 3: Ch 3, dc in the next 4 dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in next tr, * dc in next 7 dc, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in next tr, rep from * 2 more times. Dc in the next 2 dc. Join with slst to the top of the 3-ch. (48)

FO, leaving a long tail (at least 36 inches long) for sewing. Weave in other end.

Feet

Hold the Body (small square) with the long tail at the bottom and RS facing up. Join black in the second dc after the tr in the right corner. * Ch 4, working back down the chain: slst, sc, hdc. Slst in next dc **, rep from * to ** 2 more times. FO. Sk 1 dc and join black again in next dc. Rep from * to ** 3 times. FO. Weave in ends.

Assembly

For these instructions, the RS is whichever side you like best. (In other words, WS is the side you want to show the least of.)

Lay the large square (head, back, wings) with WS facing up, so that the beak is pointing away from you. Lay the small square (body) with RS facing up on top of the large square. Line up the corners of the small square with the PMs on the large square. The feet should be closest to you.

Thread open stitch marker through the stitch marked by the PM and the tr at the corner of the small square. Repeat for the other three corners.

Using the long tail on the small square, sew the small square to the large square. Once you’ve gotten about 3/4 of the way around, stuff firmly with polyester stuffing.

Fold the beak down and, using the tail of yarn, tack this down to the top of the small square (the bird’s chest).

Fold each wing in and tack each down as well.

Eyes

Make the eyes for your bird using the Simple Eyes with Felt and French Knots tutorial in the Squirrel Picnic Resource Center.